Dungeon Deckbuilder Hand Of Fate Exits Early Access

I’ve peered at Hand of Fate [official site] through a one-way mirror over its journey from Kickstarter through Early Access, scribbling words like “impressive” and “promising” onto my clipboard. It’s a dungeon-raiding, decision-making, monster-murdering fantasy action-RPG where each adventure is generated from cards you collect and build into decks. Cards drawn become weapons, artifacts, locations, encounters, choices, and 3D battles with Arkham-y combat. Fancy. This week it left Early Access, becoming an actual properly-released game.

I really dig the idea. You get the usual deckbuilding fun of trying to create synergies, while also balancing risk/reward in what you choose to take on. Then the dealer throws a few extra nasty surprises into the deck as you play. New cards are unlocked as you play, leading to grander adventures and better odds of murdering bosses. If you’re curious, here’s a list of all the cards.

I hear good things about it, including from our Alec, who’s started playing to later tell us Wot He Thinks. This has lead to curious mutterings in the RPS treehouse today such as:

a goblin just stole a pickled onion from me in Hand of Fate
I really like pickled onions
quite angry about this

Hand of Fate is out on Steam for £15.19 or on GOG for £15.29, both prices being a bit cheaper with launch discounts. Here’s the launch trailer: